It's the most terrifying news of the year: Google has reportedly been sending Google Talk messages to the wrong people—not just to the wrong people on your contact list, but to people you don't know at all.

Hope you haven't been using for anything embarrassing lately! (Who am I kidding: What else is Google Talk for besides talking shit?)

Jamie Condliffe

Well, this could be embarrassing. According to user reports, Google Talk appears to be delivering messages to the wrong recipients.

The issues appear to have started earlier today, and has seen Talk delivering messages to contacts incorrectly, which should have been sent to others. Apparently some Google Talk users have even reported that users outside of their contact list are receiving the messages. Wow.

It appears to be affecting Google Talk users who haven't upgraded to Hangouts, though it's not clear what's actually causing the problem. And, boy, is it a problem. Google says that it's "investigating reports of an issue with Google Talk." Fingers crossed it's fixed soon—and in the meantime, perhaps refrain from sending anything too... racy. [Google via Verge]